Running on leaner government is one thing; cutting programs is another

By Peggy Fikacpfikac@express-news.net :
January 16, 2011

AUSTIN — It's one thing for candidates to promise leaner government. It'll be quite another for them to see the effect of budget cuts on their constituents.

That's the talk from a number of leading lawmakers — not all of them Democrats — as it becomes clearer what will be required for the state to live within its means in the face of a budget shortfall.

House Appropriations Chair Jim Pitts, R-Waxahachie,bets lawmakers will get a good picture from their constituents this week, after he files a starting-point budget that will assume no revenue besides what the comptroller predicts will come in through the next two years. That means no new taxes and no money from the state savings account called the rainy day fund.

“Members will go home, and their local superintendent will say, ‘This is what's going to happen to your school district that your child or grandchild goes to. This is what it's going to do to your local hospital,” Pitts said at a Texas Tribune question-and-answer session.

“There may be an anticipation, No. 1, that we might try to figure out a way to bring more money into the state of Texas, because this isn't going away,” he said.

House Ways and Means Chair Rene Oliveira, D-Brownsville, believes there won't be new taxes and that “doesn't leave very many attractive solutions.”

“The cuts, to many Texans, are going to be unacceptable. They're not going to understand why they lost their job, or why their benefits were cut, or why people got laid off,” Oliveira said in an interview. “It's going to be a very tough session, and there will be body bags at the end. There are going to be a lot of members who don't come back because of this problem.”

GOP Gov. Rick Perry, however, is among those countering what he calls “doomsday reports and proclamations that, ‘Oh my God, it's going to be the end of the world.'” He added, “I've been here since 1985, and the names may have changed, but the interest is still there.

“You couldn't spend enough to make some of those groups happy,” he said in an interview. “The ‘Center of too many Ps' is a great example. They don't think you can spend enough money.”

The Center for Public Policy Priorities is among groups advocating a budget approach that includes some cuts, new tax revenue and spending the rainy day fund. Its staff note that Texas ranks 50th in per capita state spending.

Perry is putting a priority on preventing Texas cities from having so-called “sanctuary city” policies, although he hasn't offered many details. And some GOP lawmakers have promised a hard push for tough, Arizona-style immigration legislation.

Now Rep. Jessica Farrar, D-Houston, is countering with House Bill 603, which would specify that a peace officer “may not inquire as to the nationality or immigration status of a victim of or witness to a criminal offense except as necessary to investigate the offense.” Farrar said in a statement, “Placing immigration-enforcement responsibilities on the shoulders of local law enforcement agencies will force officers to spend less time on keeping Texas communities safe.”

As photographer Tom Reel and I waited for our interview with Perry last week, who should stroll in but political guru Karl Rove. He was quickly ushered into the inner offices for a quick meeting with Perry. Evidence of White House ambitions after all? Not so, says Perry. The governor's chief of staff, Ray Sullivan, who has worked with Rove, said, “He was just here to see me and shoot the bull.”

pfikac@express-news.net

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